by Scarlett L’Engle Roy No one knows obsession like a middle grader. The gaps between moody personalities and awkward encounters often get filled with fixations on some sort of fantastical, pseudo-scientific, dystopia-filled story universe—and yes, I was absolutely one of those kids. Countless books and shows became everything to me at that age. I might […]
Dear Ones, Madeleine and Hugh’s wedding anniversary is January 26, and I thought it would be a meaningful occasion to write something. A long marriage is never smooth. Madeleine and Hugh’s was no exception. In The Irrational Season, she talks about it: “No long-term marriage is made easily, and there have been times when I’ve […]
by Jessica Kantrowitz Dear Ones, When Madeleine was first married, she began what would be a years-long tradition of drawing, printing, and painting her own Christmas cards. This is her first after her marriage to Hugh Franklin, with her beloved French poodle, Touché. I’ve been thinking a lot about these little cards lately. The detail, […]
by Barrie Kreinik When my teacher announced the end of the silent reading period, I crawled out from behind the armchair in the corner of my second-grade classroom. I’d hidden there to maximize my peace and quiet. I blinked at the influx of light, feeling as though I were returning from another planet. And in […]
by Sarah Arthur Extended family is on my mind this time of year. Not only is Thanksgiving around the corner, but also I recently helped co-direct the L’Engle Writing Retreat in Litchfield, CT, mere miles from Madeleine’s beloved farmhouse, Crosswicks. The rambling, 250-year-old building has been the private residence for many generations of Madeleine’s family […]
by Abigail Santamaria “Tell me a story, Mother…” Madeleine begged many mornings of her childhood, climbing into her parents’ bed before breakfast. Goldilocks and nursery rhymes didn’t interest her—she wanted stories about the Madeleines who came before. The great-grandmother after whom she was named—Madeleine Saunders L’Engle, who died the year before her namesake was born—had […]
by J. A. Nielsen On a cold day in winter, there is nothing I’d rather do than wrap up in a warm quilt with a good book. Maybe a cup of tea. Perhaps that is why I first connected with “Meg Murry” so strongly. In the first lines of A Wrinkle in Time, when the storm […]
Dear Ones, Today is Madeleine and Hugh’s wedding anniversary (they were married in 1946), and it is also the pub date of a new book: Charles Wadsworth Camp and World War I: War’s Dark Frame and History of the 305th Field Artillery. Charles was a journalist, critic, novelist, and playwright, and this new volume is […]
by Bill Dunford One of the first times I traveled mentally to the stars, it was Madeleine L’Engle who took me there. I was nine years old when I discovered that her skill allowed the flat pages of A Wrinkle in Time to take on a third dimension – then a fourth and a fifth […]
by Catherine Hand The following is adapted from Becoming a Warrior by the author and is used with permission. Madeleine would have been 104 today, and she loved celebrating her birthday! I can’t think of a better birthday gift than to share stories with others about the profound influence A Wrinkle in Time had on […]